Modelling pressure fluctuations during flow boiling in microchannels with inlet compressibility and resistance

Confined bubble growth during flow boiling at low pressures in microchannels generates pressure fluctuations that may cause transient flow reversals that disturb the flow distribution in heat sinks formed of parallel channels joined by plena. A simple model is developed for the effects of upstream compressibility and flow resistance at the channel inlet on the magnitude of the pressure transient during the growth of one bubble in a single channel. Preliminary results are presented

Saturated flow boiling in small- to micro- diameter metallic tubes: Experimental results and modeling

Some results of a long-term study of flow boiling patterns, heat transfer rates and pressure drop of R134a at pressures of 6-14 bar in five vertical stainless steel tubes of internal diameter 4.26, 2.88, 2.01, 1.1 and 0.52 mm are presented in this paper. The flow regimes in the 4.26 mm to 1.1 mm tubes were identified as dispersed bubble, bubbly, slug, churn, annular and mist flows. As the diameter was reduced, progressively slimmer vapour slugs, a thinner liquid film around the vapour slug and a less chaotic vapour-liquid interface in churn flow were observed. Confined flow appeared first in the 2.01 mm tube. Dispersed bubble flow was not observed in the smallest tube (0.52 mm) for the range studied in runs in which wavy film flow occurred. The heat transfer coefficients in tubes ranging from 4.26 mm down to 1.1 mm increased with heat flux and system pressure, but did not change with vapour quality for low quality values. At higher quality, the heat transfer coefficients decreased with quality, indicating local dryout. The heat transfer characteristics of the 0.52 mm tube were different from those in the larger tubes. The data fell into two groups that exhibited different influences of heat flux below and above a heat flux threshold. The pressure drop and heat transfer results were compared with existing correlations but with some limited success. Recent progress on mechanistic models for heat transfer along with comparisons and recommendations are included in the paper

Flow boiling in a 1.1mm tube with R134a: Experimental results and comparison with model

A detailed comparison of the three-zone evaporation model, proposed by Thome et al. (2004), with experimental heat transfer results of two stainless steel tubes of internal diameter 4.26 mm and 2.01 mm using R134a fluid was presented by Shiferaw et al. (2006). In the current paper the comparison is extended to flow boiling in a 1.1 mm tube using R134a as the working fluid. Other parameters were varied in the range: mass flux 100-600 kg/m2.s; heat flux 16-150 kW/m2 and pressure 6-12 bar. The experimental results demonstrate that the heat transfer coefficient increases with heat flux and system pressure, but does not change with vapour quality when the quality is less than about 50% for low heat and mass flux values. The effect of mass flux is observed to be insignificant. For vapour quality values greater than 50% and at high heat flux values, the heat transfer coefficient does not depend on heat flux and decreases with vapour quality. This could be caused by partial dryout. The three-zone evaporation model predicts the experimental results fairly well, especially at relatively low pressure. However, the partial dryout region is highly over-predicted by the model. The sensitivity of the performance of the model to the three optimized parameters (confined bubble frequency, initial film thickness and end film thickness) and some preliminary investigation relating the critical film thickness for dryout to measured tube roughness are also discussed

A comparison with the three-zone model for flow boiling heat transfer in small diameter tubes

Flow boiling heat transfer experimental results, obtained in two stainless steel tubes of internal diameter 4.26 mm and 2.01 mm using R134a as the working fluid, indicate that the local heat transfer coefficient increases with heat flux and is independent of vapour quality when this is less than about 40% to 50% for the 4.26 mm tube and 20% to 30% for the 2.01 mm tube, conventionally interpreted as nucleate boiling. Above these quality values, the separate graphs merge into a single line for heat transfer coefficient decreasing with increasing vapour quality. The data in the apparently-nucleate boiling condition are compared with a recent state-of-the-art three-zone evaporation model for the confined bubble flow regime without a nucleate boiling contribution. The model predicts the experimental data reasonably well but does not predict correctly the trends for changing pressure and diameter. Some suggestions are made for improving the model. The comparisons made in this paper support the statements by the developers of the model and others that the application of conventional macro flow boiling correlations to micro tube flow boiling heat transfer may not necessarily have a sound physical basis

Experimental flow boiling study in a 0.52 mm diameter vertical tube using R134a

This article is also available online from the link below.Experimental results for R134a boiling on a vertical stainless steel tube of internal diameter 0.52 mm are presented in this paper. They form part of an ongoing study of flow boiling in a wide range of small diameter tubes. Other parameters were varied in the range: mass flux 300-700 kg/m2.s; heat flux 1.6-75 kW/m2 and pressure 6 -10 bar. The flow patterns visualised at the exit of the heated test section are first presented. The variation of the heat transfer coefficient with thermodynamic quality and its dependence on heat flux, mass flux and system pressure is then presented and discussed

Flow patterns and heat transfer for flow boiling in small to micro diameter tubes

An overview of the recent developments in the study of flow patterns and boiling heat transfer in small to micro diameter tubes is presented. The latest results of a long-term study of flow boiling of R134a in five vertical stainless steel tubes of internal diameter 4.26, 2.88, 2.01, 1.1 and 0.52 mm are then discussed. During these experiments, the mass flux was varied from 100 to 700 kg/m2s and the heat flux from as low as 1.6 to 135 kW/m2. Five different pressures were studied, namely 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 bar. The flow regimes were observed at a glass section located directly at the exit of the heated test section. The range of diameters was chosen to investigate thresholds for macro, small or micro tube characteristics. The heat transfer coefficients in tubes ranging from 4.26 mm down to 1.1 mm increased with heat flux and system pressure, but did not change with vapour quality for low quality values. At higher quality, the heat transfer coefficients decreased with quality, indicating local dryout. There was no significant difference between the characteristics and magnitude of the heat transfer coefficients in the 4.26 mm and 2.88 mm tubes but the coefficients in the 2.01 and 1.1 mm tube higher. The heat transfer results suggested that a tube size of about 2 mm might be considered as a critical diameter to distinguish small and conventional tubes, This is consistent with an earlier study of flow patterns, in which confined bubble flow was observed only in the 2.01 and 1.1 mm tubes. Further differences have now been observed in the 0.52 mm tube: ring flow appeared over a significant range of quality/heat flux and dispersed flow was not observed. The heat transfer characteristics were also different from those in the larger tubes. The data fell into two groups that exhibited different influences of heat flux below and above a heat flux threshold. These differences, both in flow patterns and heat transfer, indicate a possible second change from small to micro behaviour at diameters less than 1 mm for R134a

Boiling two-phase pressure drop in small diameter tubes

An experimental study of two-phase pressure drop in small diameter tubes is described in this paper. Stainless steel tubes of internal diameter and length of 4.26 mm, 500 mm and 2.01 mm, 211 mm were used. The working fluid was R134a and the range covered was: mass flux 100 – 500 kg/m2s; system pressure 8-14 bar and exit quality up to 0.9. The heat flux applied to the tubes ranged from 13 – 150 kW/m2. The effect of diameter on pressure drop is discussed in this paper and a detailed presentation of the results of the comparison with existing pressure drop correlations, some particularly developed for small tubes, is given

1-D modelling and 3-D simulation of confined bubble formation and formation and pressure fluctuations during flow boiling in a microchannel with a rectangular cross-section of high aspect ratio

Copyright @ 2009 ASMEA simple 1-D model with low requirements for computing time is required to investigate parametric influences on the potentially adverse effects of pressure fluctuations driven by confined vapour bubble growth in microchannel evaporative cooling systems operating at high heat fluxes. A model is developed in this paper for the particular conditions of a channel of rectangular cross-section with high aspect ratio with a constant inlet flow rate (zero upstream compressibility). (The model will later be extended to the conditions of finite upstream compressibility that lead to transient flow reversal). Some parametric trends predicted by the model are presented. The simplifying assumptions in the model are examined in the light of a 3-D simulation by a commercial CFD code, described in an accompanying paper by the same authors. The predictions of pressure changes are in reasonable agreement. It is suggested that the 1-D model will be a useful design tool.This work is supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grants EP/D500095/1 and EP/D500125/1

Modelling of the growth and detachment of a vapour bubble and the effect of a electric field in the nucleate boiling regime

A comprehensive model predicting the deformation, growth and detachment of a vapour bubble in the nucleate boiling regime with an applied electric field is described in this paper. The model takes into account the full electrohydrodynamics of the phenomenon including the influence of local temperature on the generation of free charges in the liquid. Solution of the model by the level set method has been successfully implemented with a commercial CFD code. Aspects of the code and the graphical software requiring further development are noted. Sample results are presented to demonstrate the effect of the electric field on the growth and detachment of the bubble, for a bubble initially protruding through a thermal boundary layer on a horizontal wall. The bubble is elongated under the influence of electrical forces, the effect being more pronounced for stronger electrical fields. The electric field is found to promote earlier detachment of the bubble at a smaller volume, thus increasing the bubble frequency. The wall heat flux during the process of detachment is not much affected by the electric field

A study of nucleate boiling and critical heat flux with EHD enhancement

The paper describes results from an experimental and theoretical study of the effect of an electric field on nucleate boiling and the critical heat flux (CHF) in pool boiling of R123 at atmospheric pressure on a horizontal wall with a smooth surface. Two designs of electrode (parallel rods and wire mesh) were used. The experimental data exhibit some differences from the data obtained by other researchers in similar experiments on a wall with a different surface finish and with a slightly different design of wire mesh electrode. The hydrodynamic model for EHD enhancement of CHF cannot reconcile the differences. A theoretical model has been developed for the growth of a single vapour bubble on a superheated wall in an electric field, leading to a numerical simulation based on the level-set method. The model includes matching of sub-models for the micro- and macro- regions, conduction in the wall, distortion of the electric field by the bubble, the temperature dependence of electrical properties and free-charge generation. In the present form of the model, some of these effects are realised in an approximate form. The capability to investigate dry-spot formation and wall temperature changes that might lead to CHF has been demonstrated